Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Independent - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of recent trends in the use of catapults against wild and domestic animals.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government takes crimes against wildlife seriously and is aware of the misuse of catapults against wild animals and domestic pets which is causing great concern to some local communities.
Sufficient laws are already in place to protect animals against the targeted use of catapults. However, the 2025 Animal Welfare Strategy commits the Government to reviewing and looking to strengthen penalties for cruelty to wildlife so they are consistent with higher levels of sentencing available for offences against pets and livestock. Incidents involving catapults that cause unnecessary suffering to wild animals would be in scope of any strengthened penalties.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Independent - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to protect wildlife from targeted use of catapults.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government takes crimes against wildlife seriously and is aware of the misuse of catapults against wild animals and domestic pets which is causing great concern to some local communities.
Sufficient laws are already in place to protect animals against the targeted use of catapults. However, the 2025 Animal Welfare Strategy commits the Government to reviewing and looking to strengthen penalties for cruelty to wildlife so they are consistent with higher levels of sentencing available for offences against pets and livestock. Incidents involving catapults that cause unnecessary suffering to wild animals would be in scope of any strengthened penalties.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Independent - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 to ensure that it makes appropriate provision for the accessibility requirements of disabled people.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department currently has no plans to review the School Standards and Framework Act 1988. There are a range of measures already in place to meet the accessibility requirements of disabled people.
The Equality Act 2010 requires local authorities to prepare accessibility strategies for the schools for which they are the responsible bodies. There is a similar duty for individual schools of all types to develop accessibility plans.
We have published funding allocations and guidance for key elements of the £4 billion investment previously announced to prepare for our proposed special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms. This includes support for schools, colleges, early years settings and local authorities to improve inclusive provision and better meet the needs of children and young people with SEND and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-first/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-first-html-version.
This is in addition to £3.7 billion of capital investment between 2025 and 2030 to create 60,000 specialist places. Alongside expanding access to inclusion bases, this funding can be used to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of mainstream settings for pupils with SEND.
We have also published new guidance on inclusive education estates, to support local authorities, responsible bodies and mainstream settings to identify the most affordable, high-impact adaptations in their context, based on pupils’ needs and estate opportunities, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-education-estates. This could include improved sensory comfort through acoustics and lighting adaptations, improving physical accessibility, or creating calm, quiet spaces for flexible use.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Independent - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the impact of the SFI scheme on the planting of harvestable legumes as break crops.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to supporting protein crops and their contribution to domestic food supply and is working with the sector to investigate the opportunities to support wider growing of protein crops.
Actions within the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) can support pulse crops, including through companion cropping. We have assessed impacts of SFI on food production and some actions now have lower payment rates and a limited area of 25%, so they are less competitive against break crops including pulses.
To date the Government’s Farming Innovation Programme (FIP) has committed over £7.2m support within a sustainable farm-based protein competition.
Governments Genetic Improvement Networks (GINs) also include research on pulse crops.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Independent - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what study her Department has made of whether the Canadian Government’s investment in their pulses industry could be replicated in the UK.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to supporting protein crops and their contribution to domestic food supply and is working with the sector to investigate the opportunities to support wider growing of protein crops.
Actions within the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) can support pulse crops, including through companion cropping. We have assessed impacts of SFI on food production and some actions now have lower payment rates and a limited area of 25%, so they are less competitive against break crops including pulses.
To date the Government’s Farming Innovation Programme (FIP) has committed over £7.2m support within a sustainable farm-based protein competition.
Governments Genetic Improvement Networks (GINs) also include research on pulse crops.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Independent - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to incentivise the growing of protein crops.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to supporting protein crops and their contribution to domestic food supply and is working with the sector to investigate the opportunities to support wider growing of protein crops.
Actions within the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) can support pulse crops, including through companion cropping. We have assessed impacts of SFI on food production and some actions now have lower payment rates and a limited area of 25%, so they are less competitive against break crops including pulses.
To date the Government’s Farming Innovation Programme (FIP) has committed over £7.2m support within a sustainable farm-based protein competition.
Governments Genetic Improvement Networks (GINs) also include research on pulse crops.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Independent - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department will develop and implement a National Protein Strategy.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to supporting protein crops and their contribution to domestic food supply and is working with the sector to investigate the opportunities to support wider growing of protein crops.
Actions within the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) can support pulse crops, including through companion cropping. We have assessed impacts of SFI on food production and some actions now have lower payment rates and a limited area of 25%, so they are less competitive against break crops including pulses.
To date the Government’s Farming Innovation Programme (FIP) has committed over £7.2m support within a sustainable farm-based protein competition.
Governments Genetic Improvement Networks (GINs) also include research on pulse crops.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Independent - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support bean and pulse farmers in the UK.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to our horticulture and arable sectors and their role in providing home‑grown produce. The Horticulture Sector Plan is an independent sector led plan aiming to identify how the sector can increase productivity, profitability and strengthen the contribution of domestic production to our national food security. The plan is relying on sector expertise to set out a clear vision for growth and a practical pathway to deliver it. Fresh beans and pulses grown as horticultural crops are in scope. While pulses cultivated as arable crops are outside scope, they are a vital part of domestic agricultural production.
Defra engages regularly with growers and industry stakeholders to understand challenges affecting the beans and pulse sector and their supply chains.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Independent - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of supply chain issues affecting bean and pulse farmers in the UK.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to our horticulture and arable sectors and their role in providing home‑grown produce. The Horticulture Sector Plan is an independent sector led plan aiming to identify how the sector can increase productivity, profitability and strengthen the contribution of domestic production to our national food security. The plan is relying on sector expertise to set out a clear vision for growth and a practical pathway to deliver it. Fresh beans and pulses grown as horticultural crops are in scope. While pulses cultivated as arable crops are outside scope, they are a vital part of domestic agricultural production.
Defra engages regularly with growers and industry stakeholders to understand challenges affecting the beans and pulse sector and their supply chains.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Independent - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that businesses, including at late-night venues such as nightclubs, clearly outline any accessibility restrictions.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Regulations 2010 apply to new building work and are intended to protect people’s safety, health and welfare. Part M of the regulations requires reasonable provision for people to gain access to and use a building and its facilities, including nightclubs. Approved Document M (Volume 2 - Buildings other than dwellings) sets out how new building work might meet these requirements in common building situations. For existing buildings used by the public, section 20 of the Equalities Act 2010 places an anticipatory duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments, which could include the provision of advance information about access, so that customers with differing needs may use their premises and facilities and nobody is placed at a substantial disadvantage. The Building Safety Act 2022 requires the Building Safety Regulator to keep the safety and standard of buildings under review; Building Regulations can then be updated as needed.